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London 07/07 and the day after

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  LSyd 
#1 ·
reposted from city photos...

i went to london monday to see nine inch nails and hang out. i was going to leave thursday and go north...but i cancelled those plans as king's cross station was only having very limited train service, and no tube or bus service. but today i got a train north.

it's sad that this is my first london thread of the year, but it's needed. seeing the city go from jubilation to confusion to sadness to defiance in a little over 24 hours was unbelievable.

thursday morning i woke up and around 8:45 went on a quick run from my hotel/dorm behind the tate modern down to tower bridge and back. i saw a lot of suits around london bridge, more than usual, but i didn't think much of it. i got back to the hotel, ate breakfast, had a shower, packed up and went to check out...

where i was advised at the desk not to leave the hotel because all transport was down due to incidents in central london.

what kind of incidents? they weren't sure...the italians teens there seemed more agitated than normal, and i saw one reading CNN.com in english and translating into italian.

i got my pocket radio and tuned into BBC, and sick of the italians, told the staff i was going for a walk on the riverfront. an older british guy on staff said, "good for you sir!!!"

so thankfully i was nowhere near the attacks; i was on the other side of the thames. now for the pictures.

hotel lobby





on the riverfront; i decided to stay out of the way for now, so i kept on the south side



helicopters over what i think is the liverpool street area (i was in that station the night before after going up tower 42)



closest tube station





the biggest sign i saw that something was going on...lots of emergency vehicles











while walking i decided i'd stop by southwark cathedral and do a tour and say some prayers. overlooked by st. paul's, it's still a nice cathedral, and a nice 15-30 minute tour of the church shakespeare went to, with some interesting neighborhood history.





later that afternoon, the weather got nice, so i decided i'd go into central london and defy the murderous assholes. plus i wanted to eat at one of london's oldest pubs, ye olde chesire cheese.





moving by foot...plus, i'd wanted to walk this bridge but had never done so



my, what a lense you have...





















it was open, although the basement bar wasn't...still good though. then i kept on walking towards interesting buildings in the distance...





back in service...it was like the feeling when i saw the first plane after 9/11...a simple joy















at another pub i stopped at, it looked like somebody had a problem



































i love this building...right by my hotel



the next day...things almost back to normal



fewer people on the tube than usual, especially at the smaller stations







bus ride





King's Cross, site of one explosion and rescue









although it's by my hotel and out of order, i think this building gave good advice for the situation



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#9 ·
thanks y'all.

ranny fash said:
top photos - that building near your hotel is really interesting
you mean st. paul's? ;) or southwark? or the round thingy? i guess you mean the round thingy...i loved it last year, still love it. one day, i hope i'm rich enough to own it.

englishman, heh...you know what they say...al'qu'aeda wants us to revert back to the dark ages. that means no pictures, even if it means making your colleague stop and wait a bit, and chamber pots...

really, i've got no idea about how or why that toilet was smashed, other than i saw it and thought, "hey, that's picture worthy."

anyway, i miss london...durham's too fucking quite. i need my noise pollution from traffic.

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#14 ·
thanks y'all. my dad actually e-mailed me that morning after i e-mailed the states that i was o.k., "don't go taking any pictures..."

i'd rather defy terrorists and risk getting bombed than stay in a hotel full of annoying italian teenagers ;)

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